Unpretty
by Raederle
Summary: Finally reaching a place where they can rest and rebuild, the crew unexpectedly meets someone from Suzee's past, who has a kidnapped surprise on his ship. Catalina! Will Suzee be able to save her best friend? Part 2 DSYLM
1. Teaser

Unpretty

Commander Goddard glared evilly, but sleepily at Ms. Davenport. 

"You turned off my alarm." He accused her pugnaciously. The students behind them snickered almost silently so not to incur the wrath of the still groggy STARDOG. They were very glad for the distraction anyway. 

"No, I didn't." She replied smugly, turning back to her lesson. "I had Thelma do it." 

Goddard visibly rolled his eyes. 

"How do you expect the students to get up on time if I can't?" He whispered forcefully. He knew Radu could hear him, but had to get some of this frustration off of his chest before the throbbing vein in his forehead burst. 

"I don't expect them to take your practice of sleep deprivation either." She hissed just as softly. 

"I didn't realize a man who's damn near half-a-century old needed a new mother!" 

She turned back to him. "I have no intention of letting you work yourself to death. You haven't slept for a week, that I know of." 

Goddard grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door. He heard Harlan demanding that Radu relate what they had been and what they would be discussing, but he knew that he didn't have to worry about Radu anymore. He was old enough to take the heat. 

"Ms. Davenport, I would appreciate it if you'd stop messing with me." 

"How's that?" She was purposely being more elusive than usual. And more infuriating. 

He sighed heavily. "I generally suffer from insomnia after a serious injury. I don't do well with sedatives, either, and the Sith contained a very strong sedative. 

"Then take a theta-wave inducer." 

Goddard furrowed his brow further. "I tend to get addicted. That's usually a bad thing. Since I managed to sleep almost three hours, I suspect this episode is almost over." 

"Nice to know you always take this good care of yourself. No wonder Ravenshire requested I keep an eye on you." 

"She had her own plans for my students, so she sent you after me." He smirked wickedly, preparing to take the upper hand. "I never imagined you two thought so much alike." 

"We do _not_." Davenport crossed her arms and pursed her lips. She turned back to her classroom. "This isn't a STARDOG mission, Commander. You don't have to be a hero." 

"I realize that." He replied tersely, looking away. "There's still no reason to trick me." 

"It would never get done if I didn't. You don't _listen_!" She complained. "How many times have I told you to take care of yourself? You're not going to last until we get back." 

"I've lasted this long. I think I'll make it back, whether you like it or not." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I do listen. I just don't take good advice. Space hates a sheep." 

She shot him a scathing look. "You're incorrigible. May I please continue my lesson?" 

The Commander waved a hand. "Don't let me stop you. Just don't do that again." 

"I won't promise anything." Davenport shot, walking back into the classroom. Goddard made a growling sound at her, and she had to try very hard not to laugh in front of the students. She heard Radu whisper to Harlan: "Stalemate." 

* * *

Radu panted and slumped against the reflective wall of the Exercise Sphere. He'd never trained so hard in his life, even when the Elders had been teaching him how to fight. That had certainly not worked out well. Radu was too tall for half the attacks, too short for the other half, and not dense enough for any of the kicks. Andromedan kicking relied on the sheer weight to slam into their opponent. Radu was pretty heavy, but he wasn't the right weight for that kind of thing. None of the other Andromedans had ever been impressed by being hit with all two hundred pounds of him, when all the other boys weighed almost three hundred already and the Elders training him weighed even more. 

The control he'd learned was very helpful though. It helped him to not accidentally kill Harlan. 

"I'm not going to figure this out." He said darkly. Harlan sighed and crouched next to him. 

"Of course you will. Now get up and let's try again." He ordered. Radu grimaced. 

"I can't." 

"Don't give me that. Get up." 

"I'm not kidding, Harlan. My legs won't move." 

"Jesus." Harlan swore. "Is it too late?" 

"I don't know. This has happened before, but it passed. Maybe..." Radu trailed off, unable to speculate. 

"Maybe we should tell Rosie." Harlan suggested. He wished Radu would take the advice this time, but the Andromedan boy shook his head again. 

"I'm telling you there's nothing she can do." 

"Well, if there's nothing she can do, and obviously nothing I can do, are you just giving up?" Harlan's voice was gaining a hard edge. He couldn't let Radu's attitude wreck his life. 

"I'm not giving up." Radu cried petulantly. "I just need... a -a new... um. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm out of ideas." 

Harlan looked away. This was serious, but after all they'd been though he couldn't betray Radu's trust. He might not get it again. 

"Oh!" 

"What?" Harlan asked, jumping a mile. "What's wrong?" 

"Nothing, I- I ... can feel my legs again." Radu smiled widely in the exuberance of relief. His eyes teared up and he leaned over. 

"We'll figure it out." Harlan promised. He wasn't sure how he was going to deliver, but he had to. "Come on, we should probably try to be early for our post. We're almost to Sandrines." 

Radu nodded and stood with uncertainty. Harlan wasn't certain how much longer they could keep this from the Commander. Goddard was perceptive. He'd already asked Radu point-blank if he was all right. Radu had evaded, saying that he was training with Harlan and was just a little tired. Harlan felt he had to support Radu's story. This was still familiar of Radu's past problems of ignoring his own well being for the rest of the crew, or because he didn't think he was important enough to fix. 

Radu somehow managed to get to the jumptubes, which Harlan was starting to be very grateful for, and led the way to the ComPost. 

"Well, if it isn't our resident beefcakes." Suzee teased as they slid into the ComPost. Radu walked slowly, but steadily to his console and leaned heavily on it. 

"You probably shouldn't pluralize that." He returned, smiling a little. "I'm more of a scrapper than a beefcake." 

Goddard frowned at Radu. The boy looked exhausted. What could they be doing in there that would wear out an Andromedan? 

"Don't kill him, Harlan." Goddard said lightly. "We need our navigator for the trip home." 

"No pain, no gain." Harlan laughed. He wanted to smack himself for saying that. "Don't worry. Radu knows when to quit, even if I don't." 

Radu regarded Harlan skeptically. Harlan caught the look, and a silent understanding passed between the two boys. They had to find a new way. 

"It's good to see someone here has some sense." Ms. Davenport muttered. 

"Leave them alone. All STARDOGS punish themselves. It's part of the job. We enjoy it." Goddard told her mischievously. She shook her head. 

"I know how STARDOGS are. I was engaged to one of you idiots at one time." 

"If we're all morons, why do you want to work at one of our schools?" He parried. 

Davenport waved a hand at him animatedly. "I'm _trying_ to make you smarter!" 

"Well, that's mission impossible." Goddard replied sarcastically. "I should know. I've failed at it often enough." 

"Never send a man to do a woman's job." 

Goddard laughed. 

"Interesting. Though I almost suspect you're right, in part anyway." Goddard looked seriously over at Harlan. "We're almost there. Check you coordinates." 

The Commander discreetly snuck a glance over at Radu, whose pale visage had returned to its characteristic mask of concentration. Radu worried him almost as much as Harlan, who seemed to be taking after his own failed career. Radu on the other hand was turning out to be a STARDOG already, in the spirit of how he handled all of his emotional and personal problems. He ignored them. 

However, he could hardly fault the boy for following the example he'd been given over the past two years. Many retired STARDOGS taught at the academy in their chosen field and followed the same rough and tough principles as they always had. Still, Radu didn't seem as impressionable as the few Andromedans that he had seen in his life. Perhaps that was why they had sent him. 

"I think our coordinates are dead on this time." Radu said firmly. Harlan pumped his fist and grinned as he took his post. 

"I can't wait. This is going to be awesome." 

Suzee looked at him suspiciously. He hadn't been so stoked about going planetside a few weeks ago. 

"What crawled up your pants?" Suzee bantered, grinning evilly at him. 

"Nothing." Harlan insisted. "I just think we all need a change of scenery." 

_And a good place to find a real doctor_. He thought to himself. Radu wouldn't like it, but Harlan was determined to find some outside help. He just had to find it, and find a way to get Radu to accept. 

"I agree." Rosie said jubilantly. "The planet's Comm official is contacting us. Screen on." 

"Greetings. Welcome to Sandrines." A furry creature smiled at them. Rosie smiled widely, and Suzee almost laughed at the expression on her face. It plainly said: _How cute!_

"Greetings." Commander Goddard replied, stepping forward. "We are the Christa, and we respectfully request permission to land." 

"Certainly." The furry creature turned his head and barked and order in a strange tongue. "We are scanning your ship for docking requirements. Would you mind answering a few questions?" 

"We'll do our best." Goddard allowed. He arched a brow in suspect 

"Are you harboring any hostile aliens?" The furry creature looked up from his CompuPAD after a moment. "Spung, Luff, or Iegara?" 

"No. None of those." Goddard assured with relief. _What a subjective question._

"We don't consider Andromedans hostile. _They've_ never made an unprovoked attack in this sector." It smiled at Radu in reassurance. "Moving on. Any contrabands outside of medical supplies?" 

"No." 

"Good." Another furry creature handed him a new CompuPAD. "Hmm. Your ship had living components. Interesting. Well, everything seems to be in order. One more question. Do any of you have weapons?" 

"No, we don't. None other than our respective abilities." 

The creature laughed. "Alright. You should probably get some. Landing pad 683 is open. You can land there. My name is Kobold. If you have any questions on protocol, hit the triangle button on the wall consoles and say Kobold-Tanga, and the Comm will patch you through." 

The screen irised out. 

"Radu?" Harlan asked, beginning landing procedures. Radu nodded. 

"You got it. This should be a smooth one." 

"Okay, guys, here's your chance to make up for last time." The Commander crossed his arms in mock sternness. Suzee stuck her tongue out at Harlan. 

"Yeah. I don't want to rebuild the ship again." 

"Don't worry." Radu replied softly. "I navigate better when I can see." 

"Yeah." Harlan bobbed his head in agreement with Radu. In that good silence Harlan scooted the ship to a smooth stop. 

"Thelma, stay here while we set up." Goddard said as the children filed of the eye. 

"Yes, sir." 

"Wow," Rosie said in awe. The sky was a brilliant greenish-blue. "This planet's atmosphere is so clean." 

"I know," Suzee remarked. She had exposed her gills and was breathing the air tenetively. "They've been taking good care of this place." 

"The Infocore says this place was founded by a group of anti-tech merchants." Rosie informed her. 

"Best laid plans." Suzee muttered wryly as the boys joined them outside. "There's obviously technology now." 

"Yeah, but look at the landrovers." Radu pointed out. "They don't have any tailpipes. They must have recycling cores." 

"Okay, crew, first things first." Goddard announced stepping out of the eye. "You all have copies of the market's layout. I want you to split up and go looking for a secondary fuel supply, new power couplings along with that list of parts that Suzee constructed, and new seedlings for the biodome. Harlan and Rosie, see what you can find in the way of seedlings here. Radu, Suzee, and Bova, go find the spare parts. I'll hunt around for another power supply. Let's meet back here at 18:00 hours. We'll take it from there." 

Suzee rolled her eyes. She knew what came next. 

"If Davenport and I deem this place safe enough, you might get some free time to explore, but be careful." 

"Yes, sir!" Radu and Harlan said firmly in unison as they snapped a STARDOG salute. Rosie giggled. 

Goddard smirked. "Let's hit it." 

* * *

Radu led the way, holding the CompuPAD with the map. "Where do you think we should start, Suzee? There are a lot of scrap shops listed here." 

"We'll just have to go one by one and try to get some word of mouth." She shrugged. She quickened her pace to walk astride with Radu and Bova. 

"Probably none of them carry compatible parts." Bova muttered. Suzee shook her head. 

"All parts are compatible, it just takes more ingenuity." 

"What an interesting perspective for a Yensidian." A voice rang from behind them. Suzee's face twisted in sheer disgust. 

"Brenner?" She whispered fretfully. Radu turned around swiftly. A young man with blond hair, multicolored streaks therein, stood there oozing arrogance. His blue jumpsuit had two open flaps, revealing his moving gills. Suzee turned around and crossed her arms. 

"What do you want, Brenner?" 

"I want go home. And I want you to come back with me." 

Suzee pursed her lips. "No." 

"What do you mean no?!" The look on the young man's face resembled that of a prince just denied his favorite treat. "You have to come back with me! I came all this way!" 

"Actually, I don't." Suzee replied haughtily. "And you can't make me." 

"Who is this guy, Suzee?" Radu whispered to her. She sighed. 

"He's my..." Suzee locked eyes with Brenner as they exchanged mutually petulant looks. 

"Fiancé." 


	2. Part One

Unpretty 

_Part One_

"Your... f-f-f-" 

"Spit it out heathen. Fiancé." Brenner grinned smugly. Suzee narrowed her eyes and shot a venomous glare at her betrothed. 

"It's not like that, Radu. The whole thing was arranged before I was even born. It had to do with our intelligence levels and the likelihood of that being passed onto our children." 

"Doesn't look like a fair match to me." Bova butted in glibly. "Your genes would be doing all the work." 

Suzee chuckled at the irate expression growing on Brenner's face. 

"Hey! I created the dimensional portal device to get my ship to this backwater dimension!" 

"From scratch, Brenner, or from that silly theory I made up when I was five?" Suzee taunted. 

"That theory was flawed, and you know it. That's why you never tried to make it work. I had to rewrite the entire mathematical perspective." 

"Goody for you." Suzee rolled her eyes and prepared an onslaught of sarcasm. "Radu could have fixed that perspective if he'd been around. How amazing you could do it now! Especially after you _downloaded_ the new math schemas into your brain." 

"This isn't the best way to begin a relationship, Suzee." Brenner accused, dodging the insult. 

"There won't be one, Brenner." 

"If you don't marry me, it will be illegal for you to have children." He hoffed. "Is that what you want?" 

"Yes." Suzee spat stubbornly. Radu looked back and forth at the battling Yensidians. 

"What are you starring at, plebian?" Brenner demanded. Radu creased his brow slightly. 

"Some one who isn't accomplishing anything." He replied solemnly. "And should just go home." 

Brenner stormed up to Radu, who immediately took a fighting stance. 

"Brenner, no!" Suzee cried out as Brenner's eyes began to glow. 

"I'll teach you a mind is a terrible thing to waste, Neanderthal." Brenner sneered. Suzee lodged herself between the two boys. 

"Stop it!" She screamed. "Just stop it! Both of you! This isn't funny." 

Brenner's eyes calmed. "Protecting your pet?" 

"Go home, Brenner." Suzee pleaded. 

"I won't be deterred so easily, Suzee. I've come too far." 

"Well, we have to go find supplies." She turned her back to them all and continued on their path. Radu and Bova followed suit. "Do whatever you want." 

After a moment, Brenner followed. 

***

"No, these seedlings won't take to the hydroponics we have on the Christa." Rosie said to the pot of tubers held in front of her by Harlan. 

"This is hard." Harlan grumbled. _Wonder what kind of fun Radu is having with Suzee_. "Are any of these okay?" 

"Nah." 

Harlan jumped. He looked up to see an Andromedan with very long black hair peering at them silently from over the plants. 

"These should be used in a home collection. If you want, I'll show you to Mako's. He's high, but he's the only one with plants like you need." 

"Oh! Thanks so much!" Rosie beamed. "How nice!" 

Harlan shook his head. 

"Careful, Rosie." He whispered. "Maybe you can't trust all Andromedans." 

The Andromedan chucked. "True enough. But I'd be an idiot to mug you in broad daylight. 'Sides, Mako knows me well enough by now to have the security officers hunt me down." He extended a hand. "I'm Taleb." 

"Rosie." She reciprocated by extending her own hand freely. "And this is Harlan." 

"Nice to meet you. Well, you Sol creatures are certainly far from home, ne?" He placed a coin in the vendor's happy hand and took a fragrant pot with pink and purple flowers. 

"What are those for?" Rosie asked as they left the vegetation stand. 

"A patient. She's not healing as fast as I would like. I suspect it might be due to her attitude. These won't last long, but they might cheer her up." 

"Oh, you're a doctor?" Rosie asked with interest. Taleb smiled, recognizing a fellow physician. 

"Kind of. I'm a trained Andromedan Healer, but out here, I've picked up various non-Drommer medical techniques that have been, to be honest, pretty damned helpful." He shook his head and tossed his long mane back. His eyes narrowed with irritation. We've suffered quite a bit due to tradition." 

"Andromedans?" Harlan inquired. Radu never talked about this kind of stuff. 

"Yes. I suppose we all have, in general. I was referring to my crew though. Our psi Healing abilities only do so much. We're much more advanced than you in many ways, Earther, but we're medical... what's the Earther term?" He grinned. "Ah, yes. Dinosaurs." 

Harlan laughed. Radu _had_ mentioned something similar about _that_. 

***

Radu frowned at the parts that the scraggily vendor was trying to sell him and shot a sideways glance at Brenner, who Suzee was obviously trying to ignore. 

"No. We need a better quality than that." Radu said softly, distracted by a new fight that the two Yensidians had just started. Bova had draped himself over a bench, limbs akimbo, having given up trying to understand what they were actually fighting _about_. The vendor smiled at the young Andromedan, who he deemed to be an easy target. 

"You won't _find_ a better quality on Sandrines, son. These are the best couplings in the sector." The vendor insisted. Radu refocused his attention and gave the man an indignant look. 

"That's a pity." The young Andromedan replied in the same nonchalant tone as before. "See ya later." 

Radu turned and walked away. 

"Wait! I see you're a discriminating customer." The vendor started to turn red. What a mistake! "I can throw in a whole mess of converters! Very useful with alien technology!" 

"It won't do us any good." Radu informed him in a forceful monotone. "Those couplings will fall apart in a week." 

"I give you my personal assurance that they won't, young man." 

Radu started to respond, but a girl with cropped electric blue hair slid in front of him at breakneck speed and slammed to a stop right in front of the vendor's counter. 

"I can't believe you're trying to con us Andromedans! How dumb do we look?" She demanded. Radu looked the strange girl over. She _was_ Andromedan, but her tight, revealing outfit would suggest otherwise, and he blushed. 

"Captain-" The vendor protested. 

"Captain, nothin', you sleazy jerk! We'll all just take our business elsewhere, ne?" She turned slightly to Radu for support. He had to smile once he saw that spunky grin. 

"Yeah. Like I said. See ya." Radu began to walk away again, and the girl followed him. 

"Frickin' non-Drommers think they can get away with anything. An idiot could have figgered out how bad off those parts were!" 

"Well, I managed to. That says something." Radu muttered, looking at her feet and trying not to laugh. "What... are those?" 

"My boots? They're blades." She grinned mischievously at Radu's blank look. "Rollerblades. Inline skates. I wear them everywhere. They have remote control magnets for gravity loss on the ship, and the wheels tuck in and let the boosters take over when I need to run around some place without smooth ground." 

"So... they let you fly?" 

"I always fly, Neichan." She informed him and placed a friendly arm over his shoulder and received a glare from Suzee as they walked back over to Radu's crewmates. 

"I couldn't get anything from him. He was just scamming." Radu explained as they approached. Bova nodded and heaved himself into a suitable position to speak. 

"Same here. I think these guys just take trips to the junk yard when they need inventory." 

"Yah. Thaz pretty much it." The girl concurred. "The quality control here sucks big-time. The best trading you'll do will be with other ships. 'Cause we all want to take off at some point, ne?" 

She paused a moment to grin at her own joke, then continued. "Ya'll were needing some power couplings, I overheard?" 

"Yeah, that was the big one." Suzee grumbled. "Who are you?" 

"Well, damn, I'm rude. Sorry, you should have told me to shut up earlier!" She extended a hand to Suzee and Bova. "I'm Captain Kinta'Une of the Starship Mozen. You can call me Kinta. Or Kin. Or bitch... whatever. It doesn't matter." 

"I"m Radu. This is Suzee and Bova... and... Brenner." Radu tried hard to keep his voice steady, but the look on Kinta's face told him that she'd heard the difference on the boy's name. 

"Allo, allo. So... about those couplings. My trader got us some surplus in our last deal. We'll never use that many, and they look pretty good, too." Kinta smiled toothily and crossed her arms. "Wanna make a deal?" 

"For what?" Suzee asked suspiciously. With Brenner here, she wasn't in a terribly forgiving mood. 

"For an engineer loan. I don't have one, and we just had some major damages. We could really use some help." 

"I'll have to ask the Commander, but that sounds fab." Suzee responded, then turned her attention back to her list of Items. Kinta grabbed it. She held up one of her wrist guards and attached the CompuPAD. 

"Downloading." She explained. "I'll take this back to my shifty little trader and see what he can come up with. The little devil is resourceful." Kinta returned the PAD to a miffed Suzee and turned to Radu. "Hey, sweetie. How'd you end up with a bunch of Sol creatures anyway? 

"I'm kind of an exchange student. How'd you end up out here? You look my age." 

"I probably am." Kinta admitted. "I'm one of the eggs that was kidnapped during the War. But they couldn't get us all back, if you remember. Some of us ended up hatching into a Spung slavehold. I escaped from the Spung when I was a little Taedo." 

Radu smiled proudly and shook his head. "That's amazing." 

"Not really. I had some help. My twin sister for one. And the previous captain of the Mozen." 

"Twin Andromedans?" Bova asked. Kinta was very unlike Radu. He was trying to decide if they were even the same species. Maybe just a different ethnic group. He skin pigmentation was darker than the pale cream that was Radu's, and she would have been shorter without those skates. The short hair and the clothes disturbed him most of all, since Radu had once mentioned a religious reason for his wardrobe. He could tell it disturbed Radu, too. He kept averting his eyes. 

"Yah. She kewl. She stayed with the Spung and helps other slaves escape. Her name is Mina." 

"Oh." Radu said suddenly. "Elmira's closest handmaiden?" 

"Yeppers. Though she does a lot more than brush the woman's hair." Kinta cocked her head ironically. "You know Ellie?" 

"Yeah... she... gets around." 

Kinta slapped him on the back. "She sure does. Hey, can I show your navigator where my ship is?" 

Suzee scowled and stepped up protectively. "The Commander told us to stay together." 

"Well, what's going to happen to two Andromedan's, huh?" 

"You could get enslaved." Bova offered. Kinta snorted quite ungracefully. 

"Doubtful. They'd have to capture us first. And that just ain't happenin', right Radu?" She looked and him and winked comically. Radu chuckled. Despite her appearance, Kinta was a lot like the other hatchlings had been. 

"Yeah... th-they won't take us alive." He responded playfully. Kinta laughed robustly. 

"Let's go. I'll show you what you guys are up against." 

***

Rosie's eyes gleamed in youthful excitement as she looked over Taleb's infirmary. He'd taken them back to his ship after they'd found their needed medical supplies, despite some serious qualms on Harlan's part. However, he'd relented early on after Taleb mentioned his new interest in physical therapy. 

"This place is so big!" Rosie smiled up at Taleb. He raised a brow. 

"That's because this ship is designed for battle. We need the room for more patients." 

"Oh, I'm sorry." 

Taleb smiled reassuringly. "Don't be. It's pretty nice when we don't have a lot of casualties in here. More time for practicing bedside manner." 

He walked over to the supply rack that Rosie had been examining with interest. 

"There's a time and place for everything, though." He sighed. "When I have fifty injured crew in here, all needing my expertise, it's no time to be all smiles and _how's the family?_" 

Rosie nodded seriously. "My mother told me that once. I'm not sure how she does it." 

"Practiced detachment. You'll get used to it." 

"I'm not sure I want to." Rosie said softly. Harlan glanced over in their direction. "I don't think I'd want to be the kind of doctor that couldn't care deeply for each patient." 

Taleb placed a light hand on her shoulder. "You _can_ care. Just not at the time. It's too much to process while trying to save lives, too much of a distraction. It you just... put it aside until you have the time to cry, or complain... or scream about it, you can save many more people. Trust me, I know." 

Rosie blinked solemnly and looked into Taleb's sad, dark eyes. This had been a fairly recent lesson for him. She parted her lips slowly and said: "Where's the friend that needs cheering up?" 

Taleb pointed to one of the side rooms, and Rosie walked inside. A tall, thin woman was lying on one of the white beds in the room, and a small end table held a vase with the flowers Taleb had recently bought. The brought a warm and bright contrast to the grimly lit room. 

The woman was awake; her half-lidded eyes starred blankly at a definite nothing somewhere between the doorway where Rosie stood and the gray wall. Her cheeks were sunken in, and the darkness under her eyes and along her cheekbones where not mere shadows. She looked like a corpse awaiting the pyre. 

"Hi." Rosie said gently, but brightly. "I'm Rosie Ionni. How are you feeling?" 

The woman did not cease her starring, but moved her lips slowly. "Trashed." 

"Do you like the flowers Taleb got you?" The Mercurian continued undaunted. "I think they're very pretty. It's something new and fresh to look at. Beautiful living flowers! Much better than the same four walls." 

"I can't see them." The woman replied flatly. Rosie took a step back, hoping she hadn't aggravated the poor woman. "Come closer, sweetie, I can't hear you well." 

Rosie padded closer to the bed glancing back at Taleb for a moment and sat on one of the gray stools. 

"I lost my sight a year ago during the mutiny. The core damn exploded when we tried to get rid of those traitors trying to steal the ship. I've been stuck in here ever since." 

Rosie eyes widened in shock. Harlan drew nearer and looked harshly at Taleb, who shrugged. 

"Well, they smell pretty, too. You can keep the petals in a jar after the flowers die and remember the sweet scent." 

The woman laughed loudly. "You must be a Mercurian. Only one of your kind could resist my attempts to alienate them." 

"Others have tried harder to alienate me." Rosie beamed. "Your attitude is better than I thought!" 

"I'm Ke'chara. I was the ship's engineer before the mutiny. They killed off most of us adults and the kids took revenge on the bastards. Shot them all into space." She chuckled bitterly. "How's that for bad karma?" 

"That's awful!" 

"I know, but the kids were pretty angry. It was a troop of Angorians and Earther pirates. They locked all of the children in the cargo bay and planned to sell them to the Spung. The Andromedan kids wouldn't have that. Neither would the Spung trader's apprentice Praxt." She smiled. "They all worked together and overthrew the mutineers. Me and a few survivors helped, but they mostly had to do it on their own." 

"You must be very proud of them." Rosie encouraged picking up the vibe. 

"Yes. They've done a very good job." She sighed. "I wish I could have helped them more." 

"I'm sure you did all you could. And now that you can't physically help, you're providing that adult approval that some of the might still need, I bet." 

"Never thought of it that way." A little color touched her cheeks. "I hope it's true." 

"It is Ke'chara." Taleb put in seriously. "Kin would have never taken leadership if you hadn't told her she could do it. And we'd fall apart without her." 

Ke'chara's smile widened. "Kids. Always trying to cheer me up. You need to go find a new engineer!" She chided with amusement. "Even if I get these damned dead stems working again, I won't be able to scuttle around the ships insides like a frickin beetle anymore!" 

Taleb smiled softly. "You should rest." 

"And I can do... what else?" 

"Flap your lips." Taleb chuckled. "Seriously, Ke'ch, we'll be back later. Maybe Kin will have found an engineer." 

"Hope so." Ke'chara muttered. Rosie clasped her hand and smiled. Ke'chara smiled back, but as Rosie left the room, she heard a sad sigh. 

"Harlan," Rosie asked softly once they were out of the infirmary. "What's going on?" 

"Nothing. Look, Taleb." 

Taleb shot a curious sideways glance at Harlan in response. "Hmm?" 

"About what age are the Andromedan kids here?" 

"Earth standard? Mostly twelve-year-olds. A few eighteen to nineteen like me." 

"Who trained them?" 

"What?" Taleb's head shot up. "What do you mean by that?" 

" I mean, who trained them to use their strength? They didn't just figure it out on their own, did they?" 

Rosie's ears peaked with interest. Taleb stifled a laughed. 

"That would be virtually impossible. Unless the kid were completely feral, and despite some crude comments to the contrary, we have Purebloods here. They would have to be taught." 

Harlan spread his hands and gave an encouraging _go on_ look. 

"It was us older kids mostly who taught them, but a lot of them were trained before the mutiny. By adults." 

"What happens to them if they aren't trained?" Rosie put in, ignoring the alarmed look from Harlan. 

"They'll be crippled. And eventually die. Most Andromedans are too dense to be immobile." 

A look of doom crossed Harlan's face. 

"What is it, Harlan?" Rosie demanded. Her temperature was rising a little, but she couldn't stand it. She'd been suspecting something was wrong for a long time... 

Harlan sighed in resignation. "He's gonna kill me." 

***

"Whoa. Don't you wish you had a rack like hers, Suzee? I certainly do." 

Twin daggers shot at Brenner from across the landing pad. Suzee's face flushed in ire, and the others didn't even dare to look. 

"Sure do." Suzee replied glibly. "And I wish you were built like Harlan and as sweet as Radu, but we can't all have what we want, can we?" 

Harlan shoved his hands into his face to keep the snorts of laughter unheard by the couple. He could see Goddard restraining himself as well. 

"Where _is_ your loyal puppy anyway?" Brenner sneered, again ignoring Suzee's poisoned darts. "I thought you were all supposed to meet here at the same time? Or can't the puppy count?" 

"Better than you, _Ku'reshtin_. Definitely better than you." Suzee gazed worriedly over her shoulder. "Radu's usually on time. Either he's in trouble or too far to get back before curfew. In that case, STARDOG protocol dictates that you find shelter for the night and come back in the morning. For cadets anyway." 

Goddard was pleased. The engineer knew the protocol codes better than most of the actual students, except maybe for Catalina. Perhaps that was where she'd picked it up. 

"The former. Radu wouldn't keep us waiting without calling by now. You say he's with another Andromedan?" 

"Yeah." Bova said. "And it's more like the trouble is in trouble. She's a heathen." 

"Bova!" Rosie admonished with glee. He was so blunt. 

"She is. I bet between the two of them, any thieves would just give up and give them _their_ stuff. Which is just as well, since Radu probably asked if they could talk about it instead of fighting." 

"He sounds like a _Hikari_." Taleb mused. "The Purebloods are gentle, but they won't avoid a fight if it comes to them." 

"Nah," Harlan helped Suzee carry in some of the supplies. "He won't fight unless he's protecting someone." 

"He must have had a _Hikari_ Elder at some point. That certainly sounds like their philosophy." 

I wasn't aware that Andromedans had separate ethnic groups." The Commander walked over to help the kids. Taleb nodded. 

"Three actually. The Purebloods that stayed with the planet the longest, called _Elsin_ by other Andromedans. Then there are the space groups, who broke away long ago: The _Midori_, our isolationists. And the _Hikari_, our... technological and sociological opposites. We're dark, they're pale. We fight, they negotiate. They have no government or required cohesion, yet they stay together and work as a group. They're a sociologist's dream." 

"What about the _Midori_?" Rosie asked. 

"Never seen one to tell you the truth. I hear that they have Harlan's pigmentation, but _Elsin_ hair. They're rumored to be the strongest of us, but we haven't contacted them in about a century or two. The _Hikari_ and the Elsin were in contact, though, up until the _Le'sheyna Do_ were taken." 

"Lesh..." 

"Sorry. That's Andromedan. It means..." Taleb thought for a moment. "Cursed Brood. It's what we call Radu's generation. They've had terrible luck." 

"I'd imagine." Goddard muttered. "Speaking of which, I was just about to call the authorities." 

Over the horizon appeared Radu, and a girl skating backwards and talking to him. Goddard crossed his arms and put on a mask of sternness, stifling laughter as he saw the anxious look on his approaching navigator's face. 

"Where have you been?" He demanded. 

"W-we got jumped." As the boy stepped into the light, he saw a fresh bruise on Radu's face. 

"No worries!" Kinta chirped, raising a triumphant fist. "We trounced those muggers!" 

"Trounced?" Harlan laughed. He had a hard time imagining Radu trouncing anyone. 

"It wasn't like we had any valuables anyway." Radu muttered, ears flushing. Kinta grinned at him then cast a hard look over in Rosie's direction. 

"What are you doing here?" She asked authoritatively. 

"Me?" Rosie pointed to herself. 

"No, she means me." Taleb chuckled. "I could say the same of you, Captain." 

Kinta stuck out her tongue. "I'm here to bargain for an engineer. You?" 

"Same. Bargaining." 

"With Sol creatures?" 

"They seemed nice enough at the time." Taleb shrugged. He wasn't about to mention that she herself was bargaining with Sol creatures. Kinta came over and pinched his ear hard. 

"You should ask permission first, Healer." 

"Aaaack!" He pulled away sharply. "I'm sorry." 

"You should be. So what are we bargaining for?" 

"Use of their Healing Chamber for a few days." 

"For?" 

"I teach Rosie some mulitspecies medicine." 

Kinta rolled her eyes and skated towards the Commander. "Whatever. Just don't get into trouble." 

"I'm Captain Kinta'Une. I suppose your engineer told you about our deal?" 

"Yes. It seems fair." He jerked his head in Radu's direction. "You've seen the ship and the parts. Do you think this is do-able?" 

"D-definitely, Comander." Radu grinned nervously, casting a nervous glance at Taleb. "The parts they're offering are leagues better than the junk in the marketplace." 

"I'll let you and Suzee work that out then." 

Taleb stood suddenly. Rosie frowned at him and wondered what he was thinking. He'd been studying Radu ever since he'd shown up. 

"Since they'll be over there, would you mind me using Radu as a guinea pig? To show Rosie how to do a _proper_ Andromedan check-up." 

Goddard creased a brow. "I don't see why not. Radu?" 

Radu's anxiety had increased when he'd realized that Taleb was a Healer. He had a feeling that everyone else knew it. 

"I- I guess. But why me? You have other Andromedans on the ship." _Please let me out of this._ He thought. 

"Well," Taleb tilted his head backward and dropped his smile. "Mostly because you've been out her without a Healer for about two years, and Omra would kill me if I missed this chance. Omra was the dominant Healer for your group, ne?" 

"Yeah," Radu relaxed a little at the mention of the Elder's name. "How'd you guess?" 

"Omra has a distinctive energy style. She trained me. I'd know it anywhere." He picked up his medical bag. "So... will you be our experiment?" 

Radu laughed softly. "Sure. Anything for Rosie." 

"Yeah!" Rosie cheered and ignored the peculiar look that Radu was giving her. He wondered what made her so happy about the whole deal. Kinta eyed the crew. 

"We'd better book it, buds. Dusk is upon us and nightfall chases our heels." 

"Waxing poetic." Taleb muttered ironically as he passed her. 

"Oh, shush." Kinta waved as she left, not pausing to turn. "See ya tomorrow, team!" 

"Looks like we'll be able to close up our business here in a timely manner." Davenport smiled blithely. "Commander, did you find an alternative power source?" 

Goddard shook his head. "Nope. I did find out where we can get one though. Thankfully we aren't hurting for it yet." 

"Oh my. Well, it isn't too far is it?" 

"Not really. We'll be using a hyperspace jump before we get there, but it should only be a few weeks away." 

"I'll just have to put off those experiments with the engine a little further." Suzeee said sensibly. Goddard nodded. 

"You won't be doing any experiments on their engines." Brenner glowered at her. "You're coming home with me." 

Suzee stared at him. The others watched anxiously as they waited for the inevitable scathing reply. As the seconds ticked away, the silence began to envelop them, and the heated showdown continued. 

Rosie took in a breath, wincing at the sound it made. Radu heard their heartbeats pounding loudly in a nervous quickened pace. Quiet was definitely something an Andromeda wasn't used to outside the Brood. He focused in on Suzee's heart. Fluttering. Frightened. Furious. 

"No." 

Brenner recoiled at the abrupt and anticlimactic response. 

"How come?" He demanded petulantly. Suzee narrowed her eyes fiercely. 

"Because I hate you. Because I don't want to marry you!" She raised her hands angrily and started to pace. "Because I'm not going to leave the crew without an engineer. Because I need to make sure Cat gets home! We both know they won't let me work on that once I finally get back!" 

Brenner gritted his teeth, momentarily at a loss for words. 

"I didn't think it would come to this, but I'm glad I kept this card in reserve." Brenner smiled wickedly. "Catalina you don't have to worry about." 

"What are you talking about?" 

"I have Catalina in the soundproof music room on my ship." Brenner glared smugly. Suzee froze. "You want Ringhead back with her friends? You have to come with me. If not..." 

Brenner pulled a remote out of her pack. "You probably couldn't find her in time to stop the poison gas from destroying her nervous system. 

Suzee's mouth dropped open as she stiffly shook her head in disbelief. "Cat..." 

Brenner nodded his head slowly as she closed her mouth. Silence reigned again as she stared at her toes. 

"Radu?" 

"I'm sorry, Suzee. There _are_ a soundproof rooms on his ship." He said quietly. Suzee hugged her arms and looked up at Brenner resolutely. 

"_Fine_. You finally played the right card." Ice coated her tongue and chilled the air surrounding the unhappy couple. "You let Catalina go, and I'll go back with you. I'll be you... _wife_." 

Brenner grabbed his pack and headed for his ship. 

"Not so fast, lay-lay boy. You can bet we're both taking the Primogeniture Test. My intelligence level is at least 20 points higher than yours." 

"Doubtful, Suzee. I can Project much better than you." 

"That isn't measured, you fool. I wouldn't rely on that to make sure you have sons to inherit. I'll be the one in charge, and I hope you die from housework." 

"That's not a nice thing to say." Brenner taunted. 

"You're about to find out how un-nice I can be. I meant it when I said I hated you. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire." 

"You will be mine. I still win." 

Suzee chucked a large piece of equipment at his head, which he narrowly dodged. 

"I"ll just go pack. I'll see you in the morning." Suzee snapped, stalking off. 


	3. Part Two

Unpretty 

_Part Two_

"We can't let him take Suzee!" Radu protested loudly the next morning. 

"Of course not! We can take him!" Harlan joined in. Bova nodded angrily. 

"Not so fast." Goddard interrupted, coming behind them. "We have to think about Catalina, too." 

"I am." Radu sat on the ledge below his consol and put his head in his hands. "I... I just don't trust him to let Catalina go, safely, you know? And I- I don't want to think what he'd do to Suzee, i-i-if he had the chance." 

"I've set up a meeting with Sandrines security." Goddard say, laying a strong hand on the boy's shoulder. "But I don't know if we have enough time to catch him on a kidnapping charge. There would have to be an investigation." 

Radu looked up ominously at the opening Eye of the Christa. "We'll just have to make the time." 

Before an explanation of Radu's vague comment could be extracted, Brenner walked in. 

"Lovely morning, isn't it?" 

Radu stood up suddenly and walked briskly over to Brenner, slamming the thin Yensidian up against the wall. 

"You've got your lines crossed, kid." Radu growled. Goddard grimaced in grim remembrance of that wild look that Radu had about him. When Andromedans _chose_ to attack.... they could be deadly. 

"What the-?" 

"If you think I'm going to let you take Suzee away from me, when I _know_ she'll be unhappy with you, you've got another thing coming!" Fierce blue eyes bore into the arrogant boy's skull, who looked more than ready to wet his pants. "I'll break your head first!" 

"Protecting your girlfriend, cur?" 

"Damn straight." Radu spat heatedly. 

"Catalina." Brenner winced at the tight grim around his shoulders. He could feel the tender flesh bruising. 

"I didn't know Catalina, _ku'reshtin_." 

She'd said it herself. 

_"I"m gonna reget this."_

_I hope not, Suzee._ He thought. _I certainly don't regret getting to know you better through that, even if it was just a little bit. I wonder how he'll take that word. I'm pretty sure it means 'ungenerous, pathetic lover.' I would only know if I'd been intimate with her, right?_

"You... You!!" Brenner struggled angrily, inarticulate for the first time when he'd actually chosen to respond. Cool demeanor breached, he couldn't pretend that nothing really bothered him anymore. Harlan came up just behind Radu's shoulder. 

"I'd stay still if I were you." Harlan advised. "Radu's pretty gentle, but Andromedans are protective of their mates. You know. Instinct." 

Radu tried not to grin. _He always picks up on my plans!_

"I wouldn't mind _Resha_ leaving if she told me she would be happy. Prove it to me." He released Brenner roughly. The unrelenting burning of hatred was apparent in Brenner's eyes. He'd obviously never been challenged by anyone but Suzee herself, and it hurt his pride for what he considered an inferior to have the ability to force him to do anything. 

"I don't have to." He snarled poisonously. "Suzee can't protect you now. Down on the ground where you belong, animal!" 

Brenner pointed his finger at Radu and the yellow spirit lunged forward. 

***

"He's completely and utterly unredeemable." Suzee informed Rosie. "But this explains why I couldn't reach Catalina! I can't let him hurt her." 

"What happens if you win Primogeniture?" Rosie was helping her pack, trying to control her heat, as she often had trouble when she let herself get sad. 

"I get to choose the gender of our children, since they'll be all be genetically engineered anyway in test tubes, and I'm basically named ruler of our marriage. They only let that happen when the match is so incompatible, they don't want each other at all. I'm not going to let him bind me, Rosie. Don't worry about that." 

"But you'll be unhappy." Rosie protested. Suzee grabbed her small duffle and gazed at her young friend. She hadn't had the time to get to know her as well as she wanted. If only they'd had more time together... 

"Maybe... but I have to go home sometime. I'm supposed to take over for our Prime Engineer someday. I need to train before he dies." 

A tear fell from Rosie's face, but evaporated before it hit the floor. "I'll miss you." 

"I'll miss you, too." Suzee awarded Rosie with a hug. "I'm sure Catalina will relay messages for us. And there's always the spacenet." 

"I know. I'll still miss you." Rosie fought valiantly to keep her face from pouting. 

Suzee shoved the last of her things into the bag. "How is all of this junk mine? I came here with nothing but the uniform I was wearing." 

She fingered the necklace Harlan had given her. She would treasure it. And the recording Radu had made her of Andromedan songs for her birthday, with him doing the vocals. Radu _never_ let anyone hear him sing, but he'd still done it. For her. 

No one but the crew of the Christa had ever gone out of their way to make her feel special. She was just another worker back home. The best engineer, but it was what she'd been bred for. Nothing special. Her mate had been chosen for her before she was even born. Brenner had never once bothered to make her feel pretty or loved. He thought she belonged to him. Funny. She'd been okay until she'd been forced to meet her betrothed. Okay with herself, her station. And now... she was nothing. And when Radu and Harlan teased each other over her.,, when Rosie took time out of her schedule just to girltalk with her... 

Suzee gave an unfulfilled sigh and zipped up her pack. She was resigned. No matter how worthless Brenner tried to make her feel, the friends she had in this world thought she was worthwhile. And Radu... 

_From now on, I'm going to have to try harder to get to know people better. And let them know how I feel. It's too late now. I don't want him missing me._

"I'd better get up to the Command Post and say goodbye to everyone else." 

The girls hopped into the jumptubes for Suzee's last ride. They slid into the Command Post just as the collision hit. 

A blast of yellow light filled the room and blinded the girls as the entered. 

"What's going on?" Suzee called trying to see through the alien lighting. Suddenly she made out a figure on the ground. "Radu!!" 

Both girls rushed to his side immediately. 

"Are you okay Radu?" 

"What did Brenner do to you?!" 

"I- I'm fine." Radu stuttered, obviously shaken and a bit confused about what had just happened. 

"He... he pitched into you. And you're okay." Suzee was near tears with joy. She couldn't count the number of people Brenner had mentally destroyed, leaving only the husk. She grabbed Radu and hugged him tightly as she could. 

"I"m _fine_ thanks." Brenner snapped. He obviously wasn't. His hair stood straight up, and he couldn't even stand. The backlash had thrown him across the room as easily as Radu could have done himself. 

"Don't start." Suzee snapped. "I can't believe you tried to pitch into him. An alien being? You know what could have happened!" 

"I hardly care what happens to that mongrel." 

"Well, he kicked your ass at your own game. Without trying!" Suzee suddenly realized that she was being started at. She was still protectively hanging on to Radu. He looked up at her and started to laugh. 

"You have no idea how well you're working into our plan. Just play along." He whispered very softly into her ear, and watched her face to see if she'd heard. She smirked all of a sudden. 

"I have better taste than you ever thought, Brenner. Stronger than you in every way." She pulled a face at him and finally let go of Radu, who helped her off the floor. Brenner himself was still sprawled against the wall. 

"_Fine_, you ridiculous creature. I'll take a day to try to make your bedmate comfortable coming home with me. Happy, you brute?" 

"Very." Radu replied softly as he received a questioning glance from Rosie and Suzee. He looked into Suzee's eyes, hoping to get the bigger message across. "I'm going to give Brenner a chance to prove that he can make you happy. He doesn't have long, but I can't let you go with him unless I know you'll be alright." 

Suzee nodded, for once in her life, submissively. "Whatever you say, Radu." 

Brenner growled as he scraped himself off the ground. "Let's go. I can't stand being this these plebeians any longer." 

Grabbed her hand and tried to pull her out the door. Suzee didn't move. He sighed and gestured the way. "After you, my lady." 

Suzee chuckled wickedly and threw a glance back to Radu. 

_Please save my Catalina._ She thought hard, hoping he would hear, or at least understand. Radu nodded almost imperceptibly back at her as she left. 

"What happened?" Harlan asked. Radu sat down hard. 

"She said he was stronger than her, but...." 

"Are you okay?" Rosie leaned over and looked into his eyes. 

"Barely. That was the strongest metaphysical attack I've ever felt. I wasn't prepared for that." Radu grimaced. "If he'd thrown it any stronger then you could concider me mindwiped by now." 

"How in the world did you manage to deflect it?" Goddard kneeled down to take a good look at his navigator. Where his eyes always that strained? What kind of pain was he feeling that he just wouldn't say? 

"I- I don't think I did intentionally. Yensidians don't ever seem to think that they'll be challenged. I don't think he's ever had to face any type of mental shielding before." Radu explained. "A little bit of shielding is natural for my people. He didn't know how to force his spirit through, instead of having it thrown back at him." 

"Hmm." Goddard mused. "Then he won't suspect if we try to get Catalina away from him while he's out. Good plan guys." 

"Kind of fell into it." Radu muttered. "We need to act fast, Commander. If he suspects anything, he could kill both of them." 

"I know." Goddard faced them seriously. "Bova, Harlan. I want you two to infiltrate his ship. Find Catalina before he gets back. Davenport and I will start getting Security involved." 

"I'll make sure he doesn't hurt Suzee." Radu put in. Rosie cast a glance over at Harlan. 

"No!" Harlan interrupted. He flushed. "I mean, I know he won't hear you sneaking around. But what if you trip or something? What if they stop by the Mozen and you aren't there? He'll _know_. Everything should be just as we said last night, huh?" 

"Yeah." Rosie agreed. "We go to the Mozen like planned." 

Radu frowned, but the look on Goddard's face told him that he wasn't going to convince him of a solo mission to ensure Suzee's safety. Time to cut his losses. "How about I ask Kinta to follow them?" 

"Better. Tell her to be careful though." 

_I hope Suzee is careful, too._ Radu sighed as the went on their way. _I'm not sure she realizes that she's not invincible either. And this is an awfully dangerous gambit. Who knows what Brenner'll do if he finds out?_

***

"Lay perfectly still. I have to realign you legs before I do anything." 

"How did I let you guys talk me into this?" Radu didn't get angry often, but when he realized that they had set him up to be taken care of by this Healer, while Suzee was out there in need of protection... he just wanted to slam is head into something. 

"Take it easy, big guy." Taleb said nonchalantly. "Kinta will take care of Suzee. She's a girl after all. Kin hates to see girls taken advantage of." 

Taleb passed some kind of laser over his legs, as Rosie watched intently. He stored the data in his computer and studied it. 

"You should know that you wouldn't have lasted another week. I don't understand you fighters. You think that everything else is more important than you own needs." Taleb groaned. He rolled up his sleeves and nodded to Rosie, who began to light the candles surrounding his patient. As ancient and useless as some of the Andromedan Healing rituals seemed, Taleb always kept them. They calmed him and reminded him of where exactly his power to Heal came from . He must never forget. 

"This is going to hurt like Hell. Then, when I'm done, I'm going to have to show you the right way to use your muscles, directly. From mind to mind. From everything I've heard about you, we should be able to link up just enough for it to work." Taleb spread his palms over the boy. "Ready." 

"Sure." 

A faint glow began to resonate from Taleb's hands. Radu remembered this part all too well. First the beauty. It glowed, and swelled and stretched and enveloped his legs in a tight mist as Taleb controlled the motions of the energy. He could see the very life force burning within Taleb and Rosie, brought out slightly by the small use of psi power that Healers always used. Flowing in unison like Healers tended to do. Funny... since Rosie hadn't known Taleb for very long, that she should be in synch with him already. Then came the next part. Taleb's will forced his body to reshape. 

He felt like he was being ripped apart. Bone rebreaking, being shaped, flesh forced around it. Shredding, tearing breaking. He tried not to cry, but had never been able to stop it before. In a few moments, the intense pain held him so that he could not move, and he slipped in and out of consciousness. 

All he could think of... was his crewmates in danger. 

***

"Ch-ch-ch!" Bova tried very hard not to cuss, as the console he'd been trying to hack into slammed shut, nearly taking his hand. 

"I take it you haven't gotten in yet, huh?" Harlan grumbled. Bova shot him an exasperated look. 

"This would be easier if we had Radu to rip the hatch open. We'll never find Catalina. We can't even get into the ship!" 

"It must be controlled by that device Brenner has with him." 

Bova rolled his eyes and began to form a charge. "So that helps us how?" 

"What are you doing?" 

"I'm trying to zap it with a charge opposite of the ship's natural current polarity. I might be able to knock it loose. Or short it out." 

"Is that dangerous?" 

"Yeah. You'd better get back, unless you want to look like Uranus Fried Earther when we finally release Cat." He told Harlan flatly. 

Harlan backpedaled a few dozen steps. Bova continued to form the charge, and smirked. 

***

The sparkling lights of the disco nearly blinded Suzee as she went in. This seemed like a rather wild party; she couldn't even hear Brenner speaking to her. But he probably told her where he was going, because he turned and left her alone. 

_Finally._ Suzee groaned to herself. He wasn't much better when he was pretending to be a gentleman. Everything he'd done today reminded her why she'd rather die childless than marry him. Mostly because he _was_ just pretending. He didn't about her enough care enough to humble himself and try acting differently. But then, of course, it never occurred to most Yensidians that they could be wrong about anything. She was the exception, and had learned the hard way. 

"Want to dance, lovely?" A tall, dark-eyed alien man approached her with ease. His wolf-like ears perked for her answer. He smiled warmly, but Suzee shook her head. 

"I'm supposed to be here with someone." She explained. The stranger frowned slightly. 

"Well, he isn't here now. He shouldn't leave you alone in a place like this." The stranger bowed. "I'm Kalikiman. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to watch over you while your friend is away. It would be a shame for someone to grab a pretty thing like you while he dallies elsewhere." 

"I can take care of myself." Suzee said firmly. It was just then that she caught sight of the colored tails decorating his armor. Yensidian hair. He was a bounty hunter. She had to warn that bastard fiancé of hers! 

"Is that so?" He grabbed her hand firmly. "That's good. I like a challenge, youngling." 

"Hey!" She screamed loudly, but no one heard. Or they didn't care. Kalikiman pulled her roughly, letting her drag on the ground at one point and threw her into a lighted room. He locked the door. 

"I take pleasure in my work." He motioned his head toward the couch. Suzee was quickly getting an idea of what kind of room this was for. 

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She said haughtily. Her only hope was to pitch into him and make him stay while she ran. _He's already captured at least six of us if those tails are any indication! I hope he isn't as resilient as Radu when it comes to that, but I don't really have a choice._

Suzee pitched her purple essence forward as strongly as she could. She could feel the hard pull of her psi lifeline and fought against it. It hurt, but she didn't want to die at the hands of a creature like this. 

It held. Kalikiman struggled against her mind within him as she worked through, trying to find a way to defeat him once he'd rid himself of her spirit. She'd already grabbed the controls to the door when he jumped her from behind and slammed her head to the floor. 

"Let me go!" She demanded. He laughed. 

"Weak little mind powers like yours could never hold me for long." He kissed her roughly. "Hold still." 

He banged her head against the floor again to sedate her. Suzee went limp, and let him kiss her. As soon as he put his tongue in her mouth, she bit off the tip. 

"You little!" 

Suzee tried to crawl backward, away from her attacker, but he let his hand loose before she could get far. She reeled back from the blow. 

_It's no use. He's too strong._ She sighed in resignation as he picked her up and threw her back on the couch. He ripped her shirt and bit her. _Hopefully, he'll get Brenner, too. I did hint that I wasn't alone. Maybe he'll get him before he moves on to bigger prey._

She lay there in despair, as she heard the door break down. A swift flurry of motion and Kalikiman was lying bleeding on the floor of a broken skull. 

"He's probably still alive, ya know." The young Andromedan captain glared mercilessly at the bounty hunter. "We should go." 

Kinta offered her a hand, and Suzee took it, holding the pieces of her shirt together pitifully. 

"We should warn Brenner..." Suzee said absently as Kinta pulled her through the unobservant crowd. 

"Let him fend for himself." Kinta replied coldly. She knocked a kissing couple out of her way and kept going, looking back from time to time to see that Suzee was still attached to her own hand. 

***

Bova and Harlan sat shocked in front of Brenner ship. Literally. Bova wasn't technically hurt, but he was twitching from the excess electricity he'd had to absorb to make sure Harlan didn't turn into a crispy critter. 

"I don't think this is going to work." Bova muttered. "We need something else." 

"Like the key." Harlan sighed as he attempted for the third time to get to his feet. He decided against it and sat back down. "You think the Commander has had any luck with Security." 

"Probably not. Brenner has probably killed Suzee by now." Bova raised a brow at the questioning look he received from Harlan. "Death by boredom. It happens. Especially around guys like that." 

Harlan stared forlornly at the shuttle for another couple of minutes, waiting for an epiphany. 

"Any luck, guys?" Radu called from behind them. Harlan turned to see Radu, walking a bit stiffly towards them. 

"No. You?" 

"I'm walking." Radu glared at the two doctors following him. Rosie giggled. 

"He's fine, Harlan. Has Suzee gotten back yet?" 

"Not yet. And we can't get the shuttle open." 

"Maybe I could melt it open?" 

"I wouldn't risk it, Rosie." Bova warned. "We aren't covered in soot for nothing. I tried to zap it, and it returned in kind." 

"Nice defense system." Taleb remarked. 

"Don't complement the enemy." Bova snapped. Radu walked slowly up to the ship. 

"I wish I could tell where she was." He placed an ear up to the shuttle. He turned around briskly at the sound of feet to see Brenner coming up behind them. 

"Get away from my ship, dog. Where is Suzee?" 

"I don't know. Be quiet a minute." Radu perked is ears, hoping to hear her heartbeat. 

"I won't be quiet. You said that you were going to let me take a crack at placating that spoiled witch and here I find you trying to get into my ship! I thought you said you didn't know Catalina!" 

Radu glared at him. "I'm trying to find out where Suzee is." 

"With Kinta, I hear them talking together." Taleb put in. Suddenly he grabbed Brenner roughly and took his pack. "You little brat." 

"You'll never guess how to get my ship open." Brenner hissed under the headlock in which Taleb had trapped him. 

"Doesn't matter." He squeezed harder. "Maybe I should just kill you." 

"Taleb!" Rosie looked at him in disbelief. Taleb handed her the pack. 

"Seems you have a reprieve. But I'm not too fond of guys like you." Taleb glanced over his shoulder to greet his captain with a nod. 

Suzee was bruised heavily along the face, and had a pin holding her clothing together as she walked slowly and determinedly toward her fiancé. 

"Suzee?" Radu started to run to her, but Harlan held up a hand, and he stopped. Maybe she was ready to deal with him now. 

"You... you... I don't even know a word for you." Suzee's eyes were wild with rage. Her voice increased in intensity with every word. "You left me in a horrible place, Brenner. You keep saying you want me. I'm not a possession. And in any case, you simply don't deserve me." 

"Look-" 

"NO! I'm tired of listening to you!" She yelled. "All you do is try to build yourself up on my broken self-esteem and that isn't going to continue anymore!" 

Suzee pitched again. So did Brenner. The yellow spirit circled the purple, giving off bright sparks now and again. Their faces were both fierce, and for once, Brenner was sweating. 

In a moment, the confrontation ended, and Suzee went flying back into her body, beaten. Kinta caught her as she tipped backward. But Suzee didn't look beaten. She looked triumphant. 

"You don't have Catalina in there. You never did." She said softly. Brenner tensed obstinately. "Go home, Brenner. I'm not going to marry you. Ever. I'll come home in my own time. And if that means I lose my position. If that means I can never have children or a family. So be it. You can't control me. No one can." 

Rosie handed him his pack and frowned at him. He took it and started toward his ship, cautiously avoiding Radu and Taleb. 

"I don't know what they've done to you, Suzee. But you're not the same person that I knew a year ago." He spat back at her. She smiled. 

"Good. I didn't like that person you knew a year ago much." 

He opened his shuttle and climbed inside, looking back hard. 

"Go on. I'm sure with your intelligence level, they'll make an exception and get you some kind of wife." 

Brenner continued to stare for a moment, then shut his hatch. Moments later, he took off. 

"Are you okay, Suzee?" Radu asked immediately. She looked at Kinta and the girls grinned. 

"I'm fine. Just a little knocked around." Suzee felt dampness clinging to her eyes. _Don't freak. Remember what you promised yourself._

Rosie gave her a big hug when the tears finally began to fall. 

***

"So basically, every outpost in this sector has their eyes out for Kalikiman and Brenner as kidnappers and attackers." Goddard had explained. "They weren't too happy that he got away, but at least all of you are safe." 

Suzee sat quietly in front of the mirror and thought hard about the events that had occurred over the past few weeks. Apparently Radu had been holding out on all of them. When he'd completed his training with Taleb, he finally explained to them what had been wrong, and how badly that could have gone if Harlan hadn't forced him to get help. 

_He's as bad as me._

He still hadn't told Miss Davenport and the Commander. They'd been able to cover his training time with the time it took to fix up the Mozen and heal Ke'chara in the Healing Chamber. Suzee didn't think she'd ever seen someone so happy, when Ke'chara realized that she could see again. 

_I have to be more open. I was afraid to make friends. That I'd have to go home and leave them all. But I might have to leave anytime. They could leave _me_ at anytime. You never know when someone is going to die._

"Radu's a special guy, Suzee." Kinta had told her point-blankly. One of the many things that she had told her on the walk back to the ship. She pondered the yellowish remain of the bruise that had marred her face and the words of experience that had been given to her. 

Suzee followed the line of her face in the mirror. _It's not so bad. I still look the same._

She stopped and moved closer, almost pressing her lips to the glass. _I didn't like the girl I knew a year ago. I've improved a lot, I think. But do I like me now?_

She gazed intently into her own eyes. _I think I should try to like the girl I am now. And I think I should try to be a girl I would like as a friend. These friends I have on the Christa are awfully good to me. I want to be good to them back. _

I want to feel pretty inside and out. 


End file.
